


Snowdrops and Saunas

by tansybells



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Coercion, F/F, Flowers, Fluff and Humor, Hair Braiding, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Rest Day Zine, two gays chillin in a hot tub zero feet apart because hildas super gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:41:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24516313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tansybells/pseuds/tansybells
Summary: "Hilda. There weren’t any kittens.”“There weren’t any kittens, no.” Hilda resisted the urge to blow Marianne a kiss. “But I still think it’s super cute that you would come out and help a bunch of stranded kittens if there were some.”Marianne needs a break, and Hilda makes sure she takes one.
Relationships: Marianne von Edmund/Hilda Valentine Goneril
Comments: 9
Kudos: 71





	Snowdrops and Saunas

**Author's Note:**

> I had the chance to write for the Rest Day Charity Zine, and this is one of the two pieces I submitted! The other one is some family fluff with Flayn and Seteth, and that can be found [here!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24515659) ;3c

Hilda wrapped a thick, fluffy towel around Marianne’s shoulders like a shawl, ignoring the firm press of her girlfriend’s lips and her apparent determination to not make eye contact.

“You gotta underess if you’re gonna get in the sauna,” she prompted, digging her nails into the thick terry cloth, “And I’m not leaving until you get in the sauna.”

The deep circles beneath Marianne’s eyes were even darker than normal. Hilda wanted nothing more than to wrap her up in a blanket, tackle her to the bed, and refuse to let her get up until she’d slept for eight hours at the very least. She had the muscles to pull it off!

The only thing really stopping her from taking such drastic measures was, honestly, Marianne herself, and the fact that her slight figure would probably just straight-up _snap_ under such rough treatment. Especially when Hilda took into consideration just how much stress weighed upon her shoulders? Marianne just needed to take a page from Hilda’s own damn book and _chill_ for once.

“I don’t have time to do this, Hilda,” Marianne said, her eyes darting about like a wild animal looking for an escape route. “The infirmary needs help. There’s an influx of fevers and I need to be there in case anyone gets worse—”

Hilda cut in effortlessly; she’d been expecting this exact argument.

“There are enough healers available that you can afford to take a tiny little break,” she said, pulling in on the towel and drawing them just an inch closer together. “And like, you’re already here, Mari. I don’t think you would have made it all the way to the sauna’s changing room if you were _that_ totally against taking a dip.”

“You said you needed help.” Marianne’s protests fell on deaf ears, but she seemed reluctant to acknowledge that Hilda was never ever going to give up on the idea of her taking a break. “You said a couple of kittens had wandered in and you weren’t tall enough to…”

She fell silent. Hilda forcibly repressed a smile as Marianne finally looked her head-on. She’d figured it out.

“There weren’t any kittens.”

“There weren’t any kittens, no.” Hilda resisted the urge to blow her a kiss. “But I still think it’s _super_ cute that you would come out and help a bunch of stranded kittens if there were some.”

Marianne sighed as her shoulders fell. “And you promise that Manuela—”

“Manuela’s got it covered, Mari. I wouldn’t just steal you away. Well, maybe I would. Sometimes. But not when it’s something so important to you.”

Hilda shifted her grasp on the ends of the towel she had looped around Marianne and pulled out her greatest weapon. Pushing her lower lip out just far enough to make it appear fuller, she gazed up at Marianne with the greatest, most baleful, doe-like eyes that she could muster.

To her credit—especially when considering her love of small, pitiful animals—Marianne managed to hold out for a few moments before relenting.

“Okay,” she said, shrugging off Hilda’s towel so she could begin undoing the ties and clasps that secured her dress. “But what about you?”

“Join you, obviously.” Hilda fluttered her lashes once again but quickly broke into a joyous giggle. “I mean, are you going to _actually_ relax if I don’t stick around and make sure you do?”

“Um, probably?”

"Yeah, ‘probably’ isn’t good enough. Now come on, the hot water isn’t gonna wait for us forever!”  
  


* * *

  
Back in her room, the two of them still flushed from the lingering heat of the sauna, Hilda ran a brush through Marianne’s hair until it was smooth as silk.

“I’ve always wanted to do this,” she commented. Absentmindedly, she double-checked that there weren’t any knots hiding in the wispy blue hair by combing her fingers through it. “Like, just sit you down long enough to do your hair. _Reeeeeeeally_ get my hands in it, you know?”

“You could have asked,” Marianne said sheepishly, ducking her head just enough that Hilda had to draw her hand back through her hair and nudge her gently back towards her. “I would have let you whenever you wanted. Uh, probably.”

Hilda laughed as she set the brush aside on the floor beside her and started the process of pinning Marianne’s hair into sections for braids. Lavishing attention on her girlfriend was undoubtedly the best way to spend her time because heavens above—it was like the woman didn’t know how to do it herself!

Sure, she’d gotten way better with the concept of self-care since that whole business with the monster in her territory, and Hilda could understand that sometimes her spirit was so tired that it leeched away the rest of her energy, but that didn’t suddenly make moisturizer not a thing anymore!

But it wasn’t like it was _all_ bad. Marianne’s tendency to overlook even the basics of skincare just meant that Hilda had all that much more of an excuse to get her hands on her. And Hilda had yet to turn down such an opportunity when it presented itself.

After she tied off the length of Marianne’s braid, Hilda pulled it aside and leaned forward to press a gentle kiss to the back of her girlfriend’s neck. The resulting shudder that ran through Marianne’s body sorely tempted Hilda to try and pull it off again, but that would run the risk of being, like, _too_ overwhelming.

No, no, she wasn’t gonna do that, nice as it would probably be. Instead, she contented herself by picking up one of the clips she’d set aside and sliding it into one of the braid’s twists and turns. It’d taken for _ever_ to sculpt and paint the series of tiny snowdrops that adorned each of the half-dozen or so clips, but, just as she’d hoped, they looked absolutely _stunning_ against the shining backdrop of Marianne’s hair.

“Thank you for this afternoon,” Marianne said as she drew her braid over her shoulder and looked at Hilda behind her. “I can’t remember the last time I took some time off for myself.”

“Aw, you don’t need to thank me!” Her goal of getting to stick her hands in Marianne’s hair for a prolonged period of time complete, Hilda scooted her cushion around so that she was face-to-face with the other woman.

“I mean, it _was_ pretty difficult to negotiate a break for you—don’t be surprised if you get asked to bake cookies or like, feed someone’s cats—but what matters is that you got it at all, right?”

“All evening…” Marianne mused, her eyes fixing on some unknown point out over Hilda’s shoulder like she was trying to figure out just what she could do with her time. “Did you have something you have to do tonight?”

Hilda tossed her head back, laughing despite the fact that she couldn’t really fault Marianne for the question. She’d always believed the best of her. Luckily, not only had she sloughed off her duties for the night, she would also bite off the head of anyone who dared interfere with the time she’d set aside for sweet Mari.

“What,” Hilda teased, tapping the tip of Marianne’s nose before brushing her bangs gently aside and kissing her forehead, “did you really think you’d be getting rid of me that easily? I got you the whole rest of the evening off, and I have _plans_ for tonight _._ ” Marianne blinked, taken off-guard by the sudden contact, but seemed to have heard her anyway, judging from her faintly pleased smile.

So of course, Hilda gave her another kiss. This time, she let it linger just long enough to appreciate the softness of Marianne’s mouth. Marianne indulged her, though as soon as Hilda pulled away, Marianne held her finger against Hilda’s lips and stopped her from going in for thirds.

“You don’t have to go so far for me,” Marianne said quietly, tilting her head slightly as she tugged on one of the pale strands of hair that had fallen down to frame her face. “I’d—just a—just getting to spend time with you is enough for me.”

Hilda could physically _feel_ the beat of her heart picking up as Marianne shyly brought those beautiful blue eyes up and met her own. Was death from overexposure to cuteness a thing? And then Marianne smiled, and Hilda was reminded that she was absolutely worth the effort.

“Don’t be silly,” she said, smiling from behind Marianne’s finger. “You’re the _only_ person I’d go so far for. You know that, yeah?”

Marianne was silent for a moment before she blessed Hilda with a gentle nod. And that was all Hilda needed to get up on her feet and hold her hand out for Mari to take like the total gentlewoman she was.

“Well? You feel like getting this show on the road, or what?”

Marianne took her hand and used it to pull herself up, but instead of dropping it and going off without her she squeezed it lightly and drew Hilda over towards the door.

“Yes… I think I’d like that.”

**Author's Note:**

> I love writing these two so much! Is it good? Who knows, but the ship genuinely warms my heart. 
> 
> Thoughts? Ideas? Just want to chat? I can be found at my [tumblr](https://www.tansybells.tumblr.com) and [twitter.](https://www.twitter.com/tansybells) Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated ❤


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